Ulster front-row Angus Bell is settling in nicely at the United Rugby Championship (URC) outfit, who he joined on a six-month sabbatical at the start of last month.<\/b><\/p>\n
The Wallabies star played off the replacements bench in clashes against Racing 92, Cardiff and Connacht and made his first start in Ulster\u2019s narrow URC defeat to Leinster in Dublin a fortnight ago.<\/p>\n
On Friday night, he will make his first start in front of his home fans at the Affidea Stadium in Belfast when Ulster<\/a> take on Munster<\/a> in an eagerly anticipated derby.<\/p>\n After eight matches played only three points separates these two sides in the URC<\/a> standings with Munster currently occupying second position with 30 points amassed, while Ulster are in fifth.<\/p>\n Bell<\/a>, who plies his trade with the Waratahs in Australia, expects a tight tussle against the visitors, who are just two points adrift of the table-topping Stormers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know how class Munster are as a team and to get a win over a quality side like them at home would be awesome,\u201d he told the BBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s going to be a massive test\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cThey move the ball really well from set-piece and have some really world class props. It\u2019s going to be a massive test but hopefully we can get a positive result for our fans.<\/p>\n \u201cThe passion [of Irish inter-provincials] is unbelievable and the Ulster fans are awesome, especially on the road.<\/p>\n \u201cThe atmosphere at all the games has been immense and I\u2019m just taking in the experience of being able to play somewhere as amazing as Belfast, and other amazing stadiums in Galway and Dublin.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really loving the experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Ulster v Munster teams: Ireland international returns as skipper while visitors make TEN changes<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n The 25-year-old revealed that he is thoroughly enjoying his time in his new surroundings.<\/p>\n \u201cThe guys at Ulster have been really good to me. I\u2019m really loving my time here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a bit of an integration period. It\u2019s been two [wins] out of four so far \u2013 we had a good win against Connacht on the weekend which was great, but still looking to build and get better.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are lots of areas we need to get better in.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just looking forward to putting my best foot forward and getting better within the team structure in every aspect. With rugby everything is a team effort.\u201d<\/p>\n After a tough international schedule, Bell wants to use his time at Ulster to improve himself as a player.<\/p>\n Faced \u2018a lot of world-class players\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve played a lot of Tests against a lot of world-class players,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cWe went from Lions Tests into the Rugby Championship, into South Africa and also versus Argentina, who are up-and-coming and beating some of the best players in the world and have some of the best players in the world too.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just about keeping that hunger to try and get better week in, week out.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019m trying to do here at Ulster and something that has taken me by surprise is the quality through the squad. All the blokes are so hard working.\u201d<\/p>\n Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n